I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You
by Ione-Sama
Summary: "Hey, you're not going home alone, Cal." She smiled at him softly and he thought how close he'd come to never seeing that smile again. "Eric I'm fine. I really am. I promise, but thank you." She turned again to climb into her hummer when the sound of his voice stopped her dead in her tracks. "I'm not. I don't know what I would've done if something were to happen to you today."
1. Close Call

Eric walked quietly side-by-side with Calleigh as they exited Miami Dade PD. It had been the longest and most terrifying day of both their lives and each were eager to just forget any of it had ever happened-but for Eric, he knew he needed more than just a good night's rest before he'd ever 'forget'. "You sure you're ok?"

Calleigh looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok."

They paused beside their waiting vehicles and Eric addressed her. "What are you gonna do-take some time off?"

She turned to look at him-he saw the trace of fear still residing in her green eyes. "I really don't know to be honest. I think I just wanna go home. Think about what happened." She tried her best to smile at him reassuringly as she turned to unlock the hummer door.

Eric grabbed her arm gently-halting her movements until she turned to look at him. "Hey, you're not going home alone, Cal."

She smiled at him softly then and it nearly brought the growing lump in his throat to the surface when he thought how close he'd come to never seeing that smile again. "Eric I'm fine. I really am. I promise, but thank you." She turned again, ready to climb in when the sound of his voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"I'm not."

The hidden fear and pain in his voice pulled at her heart and she slowly turned, looking up into his dark brown eyes.

"I don't know-what I would've done if-something were to happen to you today."

She stood there a long moment, just looking into his eyes; he had the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. Deep, rich dark brown and there was so much depth and passion there, it had always given Calleigh a little chill down her spine whenever she'd look in his eyes. Her lips turned up in the slightest hint of a smile. "Ok." She breathed out softly and he sighed in relief as he smiled back at her.

He opened the door to his hummer for her and as she climbed in and leaned over to open his door from the inside, he climbed in beside her and revved up the engine. Taking one last meaningful look at each other, they backed out of the parking lot and headed towards Bal Harbor.

# # # #

Calleigh had a nice condo right on the beach in Bal Harbor. She wasn't only a 'bullet girl' but she loved the ocean; she'd been a swimmer ever since she was little, in addition to being in 4-H and Dressage. Unlocking the door, she pushed it open wide enough for her and Eric to move through it at the same time.

"Wow, Calleigh. You've done something new to this place; I can tell."

She smiled at how perceptive Eric always was and nodded. "Yep! I repainted and even ordered some new furniture from Ethan Allen; I've always admired his style." She threw her keys on the table in the entryway and discarded her light leather jacket on the back of one of the large white chairs in the living room.

"I have to admit though, I never expected you to be on the very first floor."

"Really? I think you of all people should know the answer to that." She smiled deviously at him as she leaned against the back of the chair, eyeing him.

He thought for a long moment until realization hit him. "Cal really?! You're surrounded by four solid walls! It's not like you're standing on top of a building with nothing to hold onto."

"It makes no difference to me, Eric you know I don't like heights-and what if a hurricane or a tsunami crashes through here? I can just walk out my front door and have a far better chance of surviving than if I was stuck up on the twenty-first floor!"

Eric shook his head and laughed as he settled on the arm of Calleigh's chair. "Calleigh, you think of the most random possibilities; you think of everything that no one else thinks of."

"I know I do-its called being a country gall; we've got a lot more street smarts and survival skills than most." She smiled and winked at him and again and the summersault of his heart reminded him of how much his life would've been so empty without this woman.


	2. A Chance at 'Us'

That evening, Eric and Calleigh spent most of their time watching chic flicks and munching on chips and salsa. At one point, at the end of The Lake House, Calleigh polished off her last glass of whiskey, exclaiming "I'm gonna go change if that's alright; these work clothes are starting to make me feel claustrophobic."

Eric smiled and nodded. "Sure thing, Cal."

She hopped up from the couch and headed down the hallway towards her bedroom.

Eric watched her-the way her feet padded across the floor, the way her hips swayed as she took each step and the way her hair slightly bounced around her shoulders-she was so _beautiful _and he wondered for a moment if she realized just how beautiful she was. Five minutes later, she immerged in a pair of black yoga pants and a grey hooded sweatshirt that had "CSI" across the front and "Delko" across the back. Eric smiled to himself; he'd given Calleigh that sweatshirt, the day he'd been shot. She'd been so shook up, he'd tried everything to calm her down and after long deliberation, he'd given her one of his old sweatshirts to wear when he was finally released from the hospital-it had worked and she'd obviously kept it ever since. "Hey, I know that sweatshirt." He grinned at her when she came back in from the kitchen with a smaller glass of whiskey in her hand. Her hair was pulled to the side in a loose braid that hung down almost to her elbow and she flicked it over her shoulder as she smiled back at him.

"That's right, Sugar and you're never getting it back either." She winked at him as she settled on the couch next to him with both her legs folded under her.

"Well that's alright with me-honestly I kinda like the thought of you wearing one of my shirts to bed."

Calleigh looked at him, somewhat surprised but he only smiled, biting his lip as he looked down, avoiding her eyes. "Why Eric Delko-is this you're subtle way of flirting with me?"

He smiled even brighter and she loved how his dark eyes sparkled. "Well maybe it is but then again, I wouldn't be flirting unless I was thinking it could go somewhere." And at that, he met her eyes, still smiling softly.

For a long moment, the two just stared at each other; soft smiles and eyes sparkling as they did. Then Eric's expression darkened slightly as he broke the silence. "You know if you hadn't left us that clue with the note at crime scene…" He trailed off.

"I know-I honestly surprised myself with how quickly I reacted; coming up with something like that on the spur of the moment like that-I have to admit my nerves were pretty rattled I wasn't even sure if it would work or if you guys would even catch it."

"Well we did-you trusted your instincts, Calleigh and that's what saved you-you know I'm really proud of you for that."

She shook her head and her green eyes faltered slightly as she took a swig of whiskey. "You know when he grabbed me-I didn't even see it coming." She met Eric's eyes and he still saw deep fear etched in the depths of her green orbs. "It all happened so fast I didn't even realize what was happening at first but there was one continuous thought that kept flashing through my mind-the whole time."

"What was it?"

She paused, biting her lower lip as it trembled and a tear slipped down her cheek. "It was your face. And your voice. Just flashing through my mind and it was like-you were looking right in my eyes-willing me to look at you and your voice just kept saying 'focus, Calleigh-fight. Hold on and just focus-I'm coming for you.'" She looked him right in the eyes as the last remnants of her composure crumbled with the tears that fell. "I just kept seeing your face-and hearing your voice and that's what kept me going. Even-even when he came at me and I knew what was on his mind-I just focused on that image of your face and I remember even though I was-falling apart on the inside, I looked him right in the eyes-and I said 'I'd rather die than let you touch me.'"

Eric watched her face as she opened up to him about her horrifying experience; he could tell that the affects of it were still so vividly felt by her and that she still felt wretchedly vulnerable-he knew Calleigh hated showing emotion; she'd always been tough and she worked hard at it-but even though she was the strongest woman he knew, he'd also known her for seven years and she was no more immune to a breaking point than any other human being. He reached over, catching the tears that fell down her cheeks and brushed them away with his fingers. His other hand found hers and his fingers wrapped tightly around hers, squeezing her hand comfortingly as he continued to wipe her tears away. "Calleigh-I can't even imagine what you must have gone through-but to be honest, I know enough that I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see that guy dead in a ditch rather than in prison."

Calleigh smiled slightly at that-she knew how insanely protective Eric was-especially of her; he was ten times worse than a mother grizzly with her cubs.

"And when we found your note, I can't even begin to tell you how much I just wanted to take off right then and find you-I didn't care if I didn't have back up, I just wanted to find you and get you out of there-it took all the restraint I had, not to screw protocol."

"I'm so glad you didn't-because I would've never forgiven myself if you'd charged in there without backup and something had happened to you-trying to save me." Her lip trembled and a few more tears fell just at the thought of losing Eric when she'd already come so close, once before; it made her feel impossibly empty and sick.

"And I never would've forgiven myself if something had happened to you, either-God, I don't even know what I would've-" Suddenly, Eric didn't trust his own voice and he hung his head as silent tears stung the corners of his eyes.

Calleigh knew instantly he was struggling emotionally and she took his face in her hands, gently coaxing him to look at her. His eyes were red and brimming with unshed tears and his jaw flexed as he worked to control his emotions. "Hey, look at me. Nothing happened ok? I'm here, I'm ok-they didn't do anything to me outside of tying me up and slapping me around a bit. I know that you were scared and I'm so, so very sorry for putting you through that because I know you and how you are and I know-that you were going out of your mind, looking for me…but it could've happened to any of us, ok? None of this was your fault, you didn't abandon me or put me in harm's way-we both know I have a tendency to go off by myself on a lead, even when its dangerous. I don't want you to blame yourself for any of this ok? Please, Eric…"

Eric gave up the fight as a few stray tears escaped and all he did was silently nod at her, attempting to smile and failing miserably. He looked in her pleading eyes-the way her forehead creased with worry lines and the said lines around her mouth that she always got when she was especially worried about him-her lower lip pouted slightly as her thumbs gently caressed his face, wiping away the stray tears that fell.

Calleigh watched his eyes as they grew intense, searching her face. She felt like he was taking in every last tiny detail of her features-as if he was afraid he'd forget what she looked like, if he didn't. Her green eyes roamed over every feature of his perfectly handsome face-Calleigh had always thought that 'handsome' was never quite sufficient enough to describe Eric but she'd never been able to find a suitable word to replace it. She met his eyes and she felt her heart race and the butterflies flutter in the pit of her stomach-then her eyes drifted down to his lips and without thinking, she quickly pressed her lips to his in a deep, firm kiss.

Eric was caught completely by surprise and for about ten seconds, he couldn't get his breath back. Then he tasted the spicy sweetness of Calleigh's lips and air rushed back into his lungs as he inhaled deeply-it felt like he was taking his first breath and his hands found her waist as he hungrily pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

Calleigh felt Eric's hands on her waist and the way he held her and pulled her closer, felt needy and extremely possessive-it fueled her passion and her fingers gripped his face and neck as she crashed her lips more deeply into his. Her tongue prodded against his lips ever so lightly as if she was testing how far she could go.

But for Eric, that was enough for their heated passion to break free-his tongue traced along the outer edge of her lips, evoking a small moan from her and he only pulled her closer, his tongue gaining entrance into her mouth. She tasted so sweet and soon, her tongue responded to his which only caused his heart to pound furiously against his chest-he moaned and suddenly, Calleigh broke the kiss, falling back against her side of the couch, breathless.

Calleigh's hand clasped over her mouth, her green eyes wide and chest heaving up and down as she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes were glued to Eric's as they both breathed heavily. "I-I'm sorry, Eric I-" She whispered; she was suddenly aware that she could've just destroyed their entire partnership and friendship by her impulsive actions and she was nearly paralyzed with fear-she couldn't lose Eric even if it meant burying her feelings for him forever; he meant too much to her to risk causing any damage.

"I'm not." Eric replied softly, still a little breathless from their heated kiss.

Calleigh watched him closely-his eyes were completely unreadable at the moment and the suspense of the moment was driving her crazy.

"Calleigh-I'm not sorry you kissed me-and I'm-definitely not sorry that I kissed you back."

"You're not?"

"No-why would I be?"

She hesitated for a long moment, her hands fell into her lap as she searched for the words she wanted to say. "I just-I don't want anything to ruin what we have-I won't risk losing our partnership over one reckless decision." She met his eyes again and she detected a hint of hurt there.

"So-are you saying you regret what just happened?"

She couldn't speak-her thoughts tumbled around in her mind and all she could do was look at him.

"Nothing-could ever jeopardize what we have, Cal-you know I wouldn't let that happen…_but _I also don't want us to-spend every day after this, pretending that there's nothing going on when-_if _there's something else there-and I think there is. And I also think-you know there is too." He spoke slowly, watching her eyes and the way she responded to his words.

Suddenly, Calleigh's face broke into a sweet, surprised smile. "Oh my gosh…" She whispered, covering her mouth again as tears gathered in her eyes.

Eric watched her-hoping the small smile meant that the tears were happy ones-or at the very least, the result of shock.

Calleigh looked at him then, the small smile widening on her lips and her green eyes sparkled. "So-what do we do now, I mean-what-what is this?" She gestured between them as Eric returned her smile with a brilliant one of his own.

"Well-I think that whatever this is-I don't want to just toss it aside; I don't want to lose whatever this is and I'd like to hang onto it and-if you're open to it-just see where it goes."

"But Eric-we're not allowed to fraternize with co-workers-we'd be breaking the rules!" Calleigh's face fell and she wrung her hands nervously.

Eric wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her onto his lap which evoked the cutest little surprised squeal from Calleigh.

"Look. I know you're nervous-probably a little scared, right?"

She nodded slightly as her fingers traced the lines of veins on the back of his strong hands.

"Let's just keep this between us for now, ok? I'm not saying we're gonna play it off and lie to everyone but we don't even know what this is for sure yet and I don't want anyone gossiping or making assumptions. Especially for you-you're still under a lot of stress from your experience and I don't want you to have to needlessly worry and stress over this. So let's just keep it under wraps for now until we figure out what this is-and then once we get are feet under us-I'll talk to H about transferring to the night shift."

"You'd-you'd do that for me?" Calleigh asked in disbelief, her green eyes watched his face.

"Calleigh-we've been partners and best friends for seven years; I'd take a bullet for you without even thinking about it-I'll do _anything _for you-and I'll always do everything in my power to protect you and keep you safe-physically, mentally and emotionally."

Calleigh beamed at him and wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him again-this time sweetly and softly, then hugged him tightly. "Thank you." she whispered. Eric smiled into her hair, his arms held her tight as he pulled back just enough to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "Always."


End file.
